Press Highlights

Burns aids effort to make nature appeal to kidsFilmmaker Ken Burns will introduce his latest epic, about America's national parks, during an all-day conference in San Francisco on Wednesday that aims to inspire gadget-oriented city kids and minorities to give nature a chance.

April 21, 2009

Diversity and National Parks On the eve of Earth Day, we talk with filmmaker Ken Burns and other participants in this week's Parks for All Conference in San Francisco. The conference explores the role of our diverse population in the creation and protection of America's national parks. The first episode of Burns' six-part series "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" airs September 27, 2009 on PBS.

Ken Burns previews new film in SeattleDocumentary film maker Ken Burns, creator of "The Civil War," is releasing a new series, "National Parks: America's Best Idea." Burns told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross, "National Parks" isn't a travel diary or nature film, but a true story of people with stars you've heard of: the Roosevelts, John Muir, and John D. Rockefeller.

National parks in Kansas to hold "I, Too, am America" contestAll five national parks in Kansas are sponsoring the "I, Too, Am America" student contest. The contest is an outgrowth of the Ken Burns PBS series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea". The six-part, 12-hour series is scheduled to air on PBS stations nationwide this September. Both the contest and series are supported with grants from the National Park Foundation and Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.

Topeka, KS
KTWU

April 2, 2009

Think with Krys BoydWhen you think of documentary filmmaking, whose name leaps to mind? We'll spend this hour with acclaimed film maker Ken Burns whose past films - "The War," "Baseball," "Jazz," "The Civil War," etc.- are among the most-watched documentaries ever made. Burns is in town to speak at the Brinker International Forum this evening. His latest film, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," premieres next fall on PBS.

Dallas, TX
KERA / KDTN

March 31, 2009

Ken Burns turns his focus to national parks and will be part of a Dallas forum TuesdayBurns’ upcoming documentary series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, may be his most elaborate project yet. Set to air in the fall on PBS stations including KERA/Channel 13, it’s a six-part, 12-hour series that looks at the history of America’s national parks. Burns and writer/co-producer Dayton Duncan spent more than six years working on the film, visiting all 58 national parks.

Dallas, TX
KERA / KDTN

March 31, 2009

Point of Contact: Ken BurnsOur Q&A with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who will be in Dallas to speak at the Brinker International Forum.

Dallas, TX
KERA / KDTN

March 26, 2009

Seeing a nation in its landscapeWhether the subject matter is the Civil War, World War II, baseball, jazz, race or Thomas Jefferson, the question that animates filmmaker Ken Burns’ documentaries is always “Who are we?”

March 21, 2009

Ventura County Star: Thousands attend outdoor screening History “is a place where we can all gather,” filmmaker Ken Burns noted Thursday evening during an interview in an old saloon. So, too, are our national parks, the subject of Burns’ next opus that will air this fall on PBS. Burns and about 2,000 people gathered for an outdoor “sneak preview” of his film “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” at Paramount Ranch south of Agoura Hills. The place explained the saloon, part of a Western town set on ...

Provo, UT
KBYU / Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

March 15, 2009

Ventura County Star: New Ken Burns film series explores America's national parksKen Burns frames that dry enemy called history in fresh, entertaining poses and makes it so seductive that you want to find the nearest time portal to jump back there with him. For what only seems an eternity, his film lens has focused on Americana, its might and its warts, its glories and shames, its epic moments and subtle cultural shifts. “I’ve been curious about how our country works,” Burns said simply of his life’s work during a recent interview ...

AL
WNJN / Adams National Historical Park

February 2, 2009

Associated Press: America's Best Idea' brings parks to the screenYELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Before the national forests were designated, before the interstates were even a glimmer in the mind's eye, Congress started making national parks. Their creation, Ken Burns relates in his latest blockbuster documentary, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," was a triumph of democracy. It secured forever and for everyone some of the continent's natural jewels – Yellowstone's otherworldly geysers, Yosemite's granite towers, the Grand Canyon's endless depths.